


Smoke of a gun

by Rae_chan



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Darkest Timeline, End Game Spoilers, Role Reversal, Spoilers, everyone dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 09:27:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11159040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rae_chan/pseuds/Rae_chan
Summary: The one behind the murders is the one no one ever thought to suspect.





	Smoke of a gun

**Author's Note:**

> have my angsty brain-fart!   
> Wrote this on the fly, meaning there are probably threads loose, but I just kinda needed to spit out this idea.  
> Major(?) spoilers for the end game, you have been warned.

“How have none of you guessed it yet?” Akechi waved his hand in their direction, “Are you all so blind to his lies!!”

The Phantom Thieves stood shocked, glancing to each other and wondering just what the suspicious detective meant. They looked to Joker, who was unphased as always, surveying Akechi passively.

Akechi sighed, “I didn't think it would come to this,” he clenched his jaw tightly, breath hissing through his teeth, “I didn't want it to be you,”

“Oh?” Joker finally spoke, “I thought for sure you would be overjoyed to pin things on me, as you almost did before,”

“We all know what lies you've told, Joker let us in on it,” Makoto spoke up.

“I won't deny I've lied,” Akechi admitted, “I am telling the truth right now, I will tell you the whole truth,”

The thieves paused, waiting for some sign his words were untrue, “Guys, I don't think he's lying,” Futaba transmitted to them, “I can't find any of the trademarks of deception,”

“Get on with it Crow, we'd all love to hear what you have to say,” Jokers mouth flicked into a smirk as he stepped forward.

“Joker is the persona user that has been killing people,” Akechi said aloud, “Akira is the one causing all the mental shut-downs,”

Joker stood unflinchingly at the head of the group, “That's an interesting theory, care to elaborate?”

“I have no way of knowing any specifics,” Akechi grimaced, “I know you've had your persona longer than you've let on, you slip off at random moments to make your kills, the only reason you let the first few of your shared targets live was due to your own curiosity and to gain the trust of the others, then you killed Okumura to secure me as an enemy,”

Joker's eyes glinted dangerously for only Akechi to see, “Is that so, Skull, care to enlighten him to the flaws in those arguments,”

Ryuji blinked, looking a bit confused, then hesitantly spoke up, “Joker got his persona in front of me, and he told me he goes to this place called the Velvet room to manage his personas, whatever that means,”

“That was his first meeting with Arsene, sure, but you know his power to control multiple personas,” Akechi reasoned, “Is it so much to think he may have hidden one or two from you?”

“Have any of you seen or heard of this mysterious velvet room?” Akechi continued, “I mean having a place to keep all those persona's straight makes enough sense, but I highly doubt one needs to disappear in order to manage what is in one's own head,”

The group was looking more and more anxious, the conflicting views of their leader versus the ace detective who had been dogging their every move.

“Crow, explain to me one thing,” Makoto stepped forward, “Why did you try to kill him?”

“I wanted to stop him,” Akechi stated, “I was desperate and he was trapped, or so I had imagined,”

“We couldn't let you kill him,” Panther cried.

“I didn't want to, I wanted to change his heart!” Akechi's voice cracked, “I've tried so hard, but with no palace to go to, and no assistance, I couldn't think of anything else to do,”

“Tell me one thing Crow, what motivation could Joker have to cause those mental shutdowns?” Morgana asked in a serious tone that was entirely unlike him.

“It's his in with Shido,” Akechi said flatly, “The assault case is a cover for his presence here. Akira was rather desperate to make a deal, and Shido just happened to stumble upon some very convincing metaverse research done by a former colleague,” Akechi threw a quick sympathetic look to Futaba, “Akira's lawyer is one of Shido's men, and is the only communication Shido had allowed,”

“How do you know so much about Shido and who his people are?” Yusuke asked skeptically, “You seem rather in the know for a student detective, and certainly more in the know then Ms. Nijima,”

“I have a particular interest in this case, a rather personal one at that,” Akechi sighed, “I suppose I did promise to be honest,” he straightened, “I am Shido's son. My mother, one of his victims,”

“The bastard son shows his face at last,” Joker chuckled, “and it had to be you. I guess this makes this much easier for me,”

Joker's gun was out in a flash, but evidently, Akechi had been ready, ducking and rolling, narrowly avoiding the shots fired from the impressive replica gun. When Akechi came up clutching his arm, his face told a different story.

“I see you've upgraded,” he hissed, ducking behind a pipe for cover, “Run!” he yelled, hoping the others would scatter.

“Like they'll listen to you,” the taunt in his voice undisguised, “They should have,”

Three more shots rang out and the clatter of boots and ring of screams told Akechi all he needed to know. He hazarded a peek from his cover to see Joker casually bearing down upon him already, looking as relaxed as ever apart from the ugly grin on his face.

“I'll give you some credit, you actually figured things out for the most part,” Joker's gun wasn't pointed at him yet, “You got one thing wrong, wanna hazard a guess?”

“That Velvet room, perhaps it was a real place, one you would physically go to, serving as your back door to the metaverse,” Akechi shrugged.

“And this is why you've failed to catch me in the act until now, where I'm bogged down with these pawns of mine,” he gestured behind him where Akechi could see three bodies crumpled.

“If you're going to kill me, just do it,” Akechi grunted, tearing his eyes from the bodies, the blood slipping through the grates of the engine room.

“That wouldn't be any fun, and besides, I still need you,” Akira had lifted his mask which had inverted its color scheme, the pointed ends longer and turned up, looking like horns, “Now think hard, and tell me what you got wrong,”

“I really can't say, I don't have enough evidence,” Akira struck him on the side of the head, sending Akechi to the ground, “I really don't know, seriously,”

Akira raked over him with that piercing gaze of his, “I didn't have a persona before Arsene,”

“But then how did you get into the metaverse?” Akechi couldn't help his curiosity.

Akira seemed pleased his game was back on, “I had the potential, which evidently was enough, and the Nav of course, something Shido's people couldn't reproduce,”

“I suppose that would make sense, given that's how most of us first entered the metaverse, through potential,” Akechi carefully got himself into a better position, one so he could get up quickly.

Akira's gun clicked, now pointed right at Akechi's back, “It was difficult, but after a few trips in I figured out how to use the terrain to my advantage and how to dissuade the shadows I could not avoid,”

“Sounds herculean,” Akechi quipped, earning a boot in his back which knocked the air out of him, not that he dared breath when the cold metal of a real gun pressed into the back of his neck.

The cold left briefly for two more shots before it returned. Akechi counted another thump, a cry of pain and a shouted name.

“Hate to do this to you, but I should really get rid of the rest,” Akechi heard before his head burst with stars, knocking him painfully into unconsciousness.

 

“He's alive, the rest won't survive very long,” Akira's voice came through.

“I thought I told you, I want him alive and coherent,” the sharp voice barked.

“He'll be fine,” Akechi felt himself slip off the shoulder he'd been leaning on and crash to the ground, “oops,”

“You're forgetting our deal!” Akechi cracked his eyes to find Shido right in front of him.

“I haven't forgotten,” Akira shrugged, “I've surpassed my need for it,”

Akechi managed to pry his eyes open long enough to witness Akira draw his dagger and slid it into Shido's chest. He blinked and realized that Shido's eyes were the bright yellow of a shadow, that Joker was still in his metaverse gear. The shadow shuddered, very real looking horror in its eyes before it dissolved into black smoke and sludge. The effect was immediate, as the boat they were on shuddered.

“Good, you were awake,” Akira sniffed, sounding like he could care, but the expression on his face betrayed his disinterest.

“That's what you were after then, breaking your chains,” Akechi scoffed.

“You have me pegged, I'm free, everyone on this boat who mattered is dead, except for two people,”

“Me,”

“Very good,” Akira nodded, “And?”

Akechi paused, who else would know on this boat except, “Yourself,”

“It's funny, I almost want to let you go,” Akira clicked his tongue as an explosion sounded upon the boat, rocking the decks.

“But?”

“I really can't, this place is way too dangerous,” he turned the gun to Akechi who braced himself.

*click*

 

silence

 

“There is nothing stopping you from leaving,” there was a hard edge in the voice, “I only intended for one person to leave this place in any case,”

“Unbelievable, now you're just letting me go?!” Akechi shouted against the smoke in his throat.

“Nope, just thought I'd let you know,”

 

“If he was such a genius, he should have figured out that a real gun needs to be reloaded,” the sly smirk returning as he walked away from the Diet building.

 


End file.
